We're deeply saddened to hear about the passing of John Dent, one of the very best mastering engineers, and a real unsung British music legend. John has cut many records on Far Out, and became a good friend of the label and myself, after having been introduced by Mark Pritchard when John was just starting out in his new studio 'Loud' in Taunton, Somerset. We went on to work with John on many records over the years, including music by Azymuth, Sabrina Malheiros, Troubleman and countless 12"s.
John has spent the last five decades mastering records at the very top of the industry, and his work includes countless classics from the Island Records catalogue - where he started his craft as an in-house cutter - including music by the likes of Bob Marley, Grace Jones, PJ Harvey, War and Motorhead (to name a tiny few). Some of John's more recent mastering credits can be found on records by Radiohead, DJ Shadow, Floating Points, Theo Parrish, Nightmares On Wax, Four Tet and many, many more.
I will never forget the time he showed me some of the acetates he had cut and kept over the years: records by Queen, and loads of other massive hits. He was a real scientist in the studio and will be sorely missed by the music industry and music lovers alike. But most of all, we are saddened to have lost such a true gentleman, RIP Mr Loud, we will miss you and your undying love for music.
Joe Davis & The Far Out team